Disable Office 2013 Splash Screens

All Microsoft Office applications have a startup splash screen. It shows information such as loading add-ins, startup progress, and it also gives you the option to close the application in mid-way without having to wait for the full program window to open. If for some reason you find the splash screen annoying, Microsoft has provided command line switch to turn this off for each program:

Word: /q

Excel: /e

Powerpoint: /s

If you launch these applications from Windows Run dialog or start menu search, you can just include the switch after typing in their name. Or, if you run programs using shortcuts, follow these steps:

Disable Word 2013 Splash Screen

Right-click on our desktop and select New, then click on Shortcut. Now paste the following into the location box and then click next:"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15\WINWORD.EXE" /q

This is the default path for 32-bit version of Office 2013 running on 32-bit Windows and for 64-bit version of Office 2013 on 64-bit Windows, however, if you’re running the x86 version of Office 2013 installed on a x64 edition of Windows, the default path would look like this:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15\WINWORD.EXE" /q

Next, give the shortcut a name and close the wizard.

Now always use this shortcut to launch Word and you won’t see the startup screen. You can also pin this shortcut to your taskbar for quick access. Do note that if you directly open an Office file the program would still show the splash screen as the switch is not applied then.

Disable Excel 2013 Splash Screen

Similarly, this is the location path for disabling Excel 2013’s splash screen:

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15\EXCEL.EXE" /e

Disable PowerPoint 2013 Splash Screen

This is the default location path for disabling PowerPoint 2013’s splash screen:

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15\POWERPNT.EXE" /s

Microsoft has not provided a switch option for other applications in the suite like Outlook, OneNote, and Publisher. For those applications you can try a portable program like SplashKiller.